What Are the Boating Options For RVers

What floats your boat? Often for RVers, it’s heading out onto the water to enjoy a wonderful water experience.
Although we’ve seen a few rigs pulling boats behind their RVs, most people don’t bring their boats with them on their camping trips. Luckily, there are a lot of great options. Here are just a few:
Bringing the Boat
We’ve seen a few crazy ways people bring their boats with them while camping.
- We’ve seen a truck pulling a large 5th wheel, which is pulling a boat.
- We’ve seen boats being pulled by Class A & Class C motorhomes.
- We’ve seen people having their significant other or friends drive separately, pulling the boat.
- And one time, we saw our neighbor show up to their campsite with this crazy setup.
Boating from the Campground
Many Campgrounds will allow you to use their boats for FREE or for a small rental fee.
There are also a lot of campgrounds that offer free boat parking at the dock. For local campers, we’ve seen quite a few people bring another vehicle pulling the boat so they have it with them during their stay. We’ve seen a few rigs where they have a truck, a 5th wheel and a boat!
Renting from the Campground
It’s great to have your boat at the campground, but renting it is the best solution for most people. You don’t have to make the investment or deal with the hassle of the boat and the extra logistics that comes with it. Just head out from the camper and hit the water.
We commonly see these types of boats for rent at campgrounds:
- Fishing boat
- Jon boat
- Jet Ski
- Pontoon
- Kayak
- Canoe
Renting from a Local Outfitter
Popular boating destinations often attract a lot of RVers. That means you’ll often have outfitters that will rent boats at competitive rates. You can usually find some great promotions online.
This varies from taking a boat out onto the ocean to the harbor, a lake or river. Local outfitters are great resources. You’ll get equipped by local experts who usually know the best spots to point you towards.
Kayaking
One of the most popular activities for RVers is kayaking. It’s especially great because it can be done as a solo sport, so as you travel, you have control over when you go.
There are a few main reasons that RVers have gravitated to kayaking.
- Relatively inexpensive
- Many campgrounds offer kayaks
- Easy to learn
- It’s a way to get in touch with nature
Many campgrounds offer kayaks to their campers for FREE!
Canoeing Adventures
One of the great American traditions, canoeing offers an easy way to cruise along our waterways. It’s a great way to bring people together in the outdoors.
Our favorite way to canoe is to line up a pickup and head on down a river.
Urban Kayaking
This is a cool adventure – taking a kayak in a downtown or urban area. When you travel with your kayak, it’s easy to push off and paddle into these areas. For others, most large cities will have outfitters to get you set up with everything you need. You can even find historic city tours via kayak.
Taking a Cruise
Sit back and relax while munching on some snacks with some sort of cruise. Sunset, whale and dolphin cruises are easy to find and even easier to enjoy.
It makes visiting a unique area all the more special to sit in comfort while you cruise on the water. We’ve taken cruises directly from RV Parks but usually a quick google search will get you in touch with all the local outfits.
There are so many ways to enjoy the water when you’re camping. Next on our water bucket list is staying in a house boat. How about you?